India’s First Caste-Based Digital Census to Begin March 1, 2027

According to multiple top officials in the Government, they confirmed on Wednesday, that the next national Census is set to go in the field on March 1, 2027 along with a caste enumeration for the first time, as well.

However, in some select areas to include Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand the Census could start in the field as early as October 2026.

The national Census will happen in two phases, according to officials.

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The announcement comes exactly a month after the union government announced the caste census would be included in the next Census, to be conducted every ten years. The announcement was made earlier this month as part of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have conducted caste surveys in the last three years, while Karnataka is considering releasing survey results from 2015.

The last decadal national Census was due in 2021 and postponed indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to officials, Census 2027 will also be the first digital Census.

Earlier this year, the Centre said that a mobile application for the data collection, as well as a census portal for the management and monitoring of all census activities has been developed.

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In March of this year, the Union Home Ministry told a parliamentary standing committee that the preparatory work for the decadal exercise is complete.

The ministry was explaining the slide in allocation for the 2025-26 Census, from ₹1,309 crore in 2024-25 to ₹574 crore in 2025-26. The first synchronized census in India, was conducted in 1881.

Thereafter, censuses remained a decadal affair with uninterrupted continuity. It is the most substantial source of statistics on demographic, socio-economic and other parameters of the entire population of India.

Such data is used by the government for planning and policy purposes, it is also instrumental in providing reflections about the impacts of previous governmental policies. Along with delimitation of constituencies, and state-wise representations in Parliament.

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